prairie hill and making it our christmas tree this year. we would be doing the field a favor - cedars/junipers take over a landscape and are fire hazards.i think they're beautiful trees and smell amazing.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

(These canyons date back 260 million years
when an extensive
shallow sea covered the region,

bordered on the east by the Ouachita
and Ozark Mountains. Sediment eroded from these mountains

was carried
westward by rivers as the sea receded. This sediment was worked into
sand dunes by wind

and water and eventually transformed
into rock. After millions of years of erosion the canyons became

what
we see today. Before the mid-1800's, Plains Indians used the canyon as a
winter camp for shelter

from the cold and as a place to hunt game. With
the discovery of gold in California, overland
wagon trails were established, such as the California Road, which
passed through the current site of the park. Gold-seeking forty-niners
used the canyon as a natural landmark for guidance, and a favorite stop

for fresh water, as well as a place to stop and
repair their wagons.)

lunch, then onto the 'roman nose' state park in watonga.

fallen leaves, sunshine, wind, running springs,

red earth, canyons, mesas, blue skies,,,

Born June 30, 1856, Henry
Roman Nose was reared in the nomadic environment of buffalo hunting and
tipi dwelling. In 1868, his tribe was forced to give up their nomadic
ways and locate in what is now western Oklahoma.

Roman Nose's camp was located in the large canyon which later would
become part of Roman Nose State Park. The canyon was an ideal camp site
since its high walls protected the Indian lodges from the cold winter
winds. The canyon also had plenty of good running water near the grass
country of the buffalo.

Despite constant cavalry patrols of the area, conducted by the infamous
George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Calvary Unit, the Cheyenne
continued their raids on the white settlements. In 1875, as a result of
these raids, several Cheyenne chiefs and warriors were imprisoned and
shipped to St. Augustine, Florida. One of these Chiefs was Henry Roman
Nose.

After three years of imprisonment, several captives were sent to Hampton
Institute in Virginia. Roman Nose was one of these few fortunate
captives. Later he went to Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania, and in
1881, returned home, fully qualified as a tinsmith. The next years were
full of change for Roman Nose. He married Red Paint Woman, who soon
died. His tinsmithing abilities proved to be unproductive in a land
where the Indian had little use for his skills and the white man would
not do business with Indians. For the next four years he worked as a
scout for the cavlary and as policeman for the Indian Agency. In June
1891, he received his allotment and began using his education by trying
to preserve parts of the Indian way of life. In 1889, he became chief of
the Cheyenne, serving until his death in 1917.

Roman Nose's life spanned the most turbulent times for Cheyenne people.
He can be remembered as a great peacemaker who helped his people make
the transition from a nomadic lifestyle to the settled existence of the
whites.

Prairie Hill Studio

Hello, thank you for visiting. My name is Sandra and I happily live in Medicine Park, Oklahoma, right by the magnificent Wichita Mountains. My studio is located on second floor of the house which overlooks 'my' beloved Prairie Hill. I'm grateful to be surrounded by nature and I especially gather inspiration from the flowers, birds and skies. Currently, I'm focusing on watercolor and oil painting the native wildflowers. Oh, the occasional skulls that I find around the hill are included as well.